Thursday, January 17, 2013

This week I learned that my job is secure for another 6 months beyond the last 6 months. At full time, same salary. That gets me through the end of September (the Federal fiscal year). Great news! When I shared that with the hubby via email he replied, "Was thinking this morning about our anniversary trip – shall we finally do southern Utah – Bryce, and the like?"

:-)

I'm usually the one planning well ahead like that. But, the job situation has me thinking much shorter term lately. It was a nice reminder of the fun we have to look forward to! Yay!

I'll be checking out some library books this weekend so we can see what our options are. He's been to Canyonlands and Arches. I've never been to any Utah parks. Our only rule is to go somewhere we've never been before. I'm thinking Bryce would be a good choice. We will need to decide if we want to see as much as we can or pick a place and see as much of it as we can. So much to see and do! I'm excited! I love planning stuff!

And here is a little break for your day. My granddaughter, New Year's, laughing at her grandpa. Enjoy! She's 7 months old now and has figured out how to move around the floor. Not quite a crawl but more like a seal. But, we've begun to be much more aware of things that shouldn't be on the floor.

Sunday, January 6, 2013

Wow! Have I really not posted anything since the beginning of October? Well, it's just been that kind of year. This was the year of taking care of everyone else which really took away from my motorcycling time. But, it's all good. :-)

We did manage to make our anniversary moto road trip. We stayed in Colorado this time, not wanting to travel too far away from the new granddaughter. But, we did meet our goal of traveling to a place we'd never been before. Fruita and the Colorado National Monument was amazing! And less time on the road meant more time together and that's always a good thing. :-)

If I looked back, I could probably count the number of times I road the moto on two hands. That makes me sad. But, the reasons for that are all good reasons. My mom got two new knees, making two trips to Colorado for them. She was with us for 5 months! Wow! And it was all good. Phew! But, it was a challenge. Hubby and I are both introverts and need our quiet time to recharge. We are still working to find that time to recharge.

We had a full house for Thanksgiving and New Years as well. People and dogs! And it was all good times as well. :-) I really love my in laws. They are the best. I wish we all lived closer to each other.

Not much to report in the way of motorcycling in this year end recap. I realized that if we continue to make these anniversary road trips, that would be a great way to keep track of yearly mileage. So, starting mileage of last year's road trip to starting mileage of this year's I rode a total of 5,248 miles. That's definitely the lowest mileage I've ever had. And, I realize, many people don't get to ride (commute) as often as I do, and I empathize with you all. :-)

The low miles were mostly because my mom was here and I wasn't commuting to work at that time. I was home with her. It sucks because the weather was so warm for so long. And so dry. It still is. There are plenty of folks commuting around here still. I saw plenty of motos out yesterday. It also means I've put lots of miles on the Forester. In fact, I think the Subaru may have caught up to the GS! Yikes! That means I've been spending more on gas as well. And still paying more for parking at work. Sigh. With my work insecurity, I really need to change that.

This year was also the first time I put the moto on a battery tender. The last time I attempted to ride it started but quickly ran out of juice. When I stopped for gas, it wouldn't start again. That was an interesting day. Two young men in a pick up truck stopped to ask if I needed any help. I thanked them and said I didn't because my hubby was on his way. They said ok and drove on. But then they came back and asked again. Normally, that's a red flag for women alone but these guys did all the right things. One said he worked in a BMW shop and had a charger in his truck if I wanted to try it. He then explained without trying to do anything to the bike how he knew what he was talking about. He also let me do most of the work of taking the seat off and stuff while he gathered his tools. We tried to jump it but were unsuccessful. When hubby arrived, he was able to jump it. He determined the problem jumping it was needed a better ground. Off I went to work!

That was the last time I rode. We put it on the battery tender that evening. :-( I don't even remember when that was.